Special Effects/Finishes: Turn How Into Wow!

Chasing technology can be time consuming, expensive and frustrating. Imagine being the first tenant in an exclusive, gated community—the quiet, the beauty, the excitement of it all—then, within a year, you become knee-deep in neighbors. It no longer seems special when the masses join the party, does it?

Yes, with certain technologies, the market can devolve into a sea of "me, too" competitors, and soon this specialized offering you once boasted of becomes a ho-hum commodity. This turns the hunt into identifying the next big thing that won't become infested with users into a vision quest.

Well, we won't make you fast or sleep in your back yard. It's too cold to be outdoors, so just stay inside, rip open a bag of pork rinds and immerse yourself in the value-added possibilities offered by special effects, finishes, foils and coatings.

Why is this a good area? As with any technology worth an extended look, these embellishments can enable a printer to achieve a point of differentiation in the eyes of its customers. Take David D'Andrea, president of D'Andrea Graphic Communications (DGC) in Los Angeles. The City of Angels is saturated with printers, notes D'Andrea, hence the decision to become a boutique, high-quality provider that can churn out 10 micron with UV "all day long," he says.

To augment DGC's quest to become more than the average print provider, the company acquired an Eco-Eagle cold foil system from Eagle Systems in December of 2012. With a client base that includes advertising and design agencies, entertainment companies, movie studios and other film/music concerns, DGC can now print a silver film material in-line and overprint process and spot colors, achieving the full spectrum of metallic colors.

"Foil is in vogue again," notes D'Andrea. "We've got a lot of young designers looking at foil for the first time, so it's nice to see different products or processes coming back to the printing world with vigor. Our cold foil system has really allowed us to provide that extra process without creating extra days in the schedule."

The Eco-Eagle foiler is married to DGC's 40˝ Komori sheetfed offset UV press, and D'Andrea is ecstatic by how easily and seamlessly the pair operate in tandem. While the learning curve is not as daunting as it is with, say, the UV process, it can present challenges, particularly with regards to substrates. But it's nothing that a little trial and error won't solve, D'Andrea notes and, with a little patience, users can find the right recipe of adhesives, foils and stocks to make it all work.

Done In-House, Affordably

While product packaging and books are two of the more notable spaces for such an offering, D'Andrea is a fan of being able, from a commercial standpoint, to add that extra shot of pizazz to a client's piece, cost-effectively and without having to farm out the process and extend the turnaround time. He believes the process will continue to improve, and DGC will make a stronger push outside its current customer base to find solutions.

"We're at the point now where we can make a stronger push with other clients and market segments in which to do more marketing for the cold foil," he says. "With any process, you want to get stronger and better before you go out into the market beyond your existing client base. You want to really push to make sure you're getting the best product available."

Starring: The 5th Dimension

For fellow California printer Westamerica Graphics, based in Foothill Ranch, the path to product creativity came via Kodak's Fifth Imaging Unit Solutions, which is helping to provide dimensional and gold printing on its NexPress 3300 color digital press. Not only does the capability set Westamerica apart, says Ken Dunn, digital operations manager, it provides far better margins because of the limited marketplace of providers.

When Westamerica Graphics first acquired the NexPress, it was doing projects such as brochures with wood grain effects or mimic embossing. The company became a beta tester for the gold ink capability and has been a driving force behind creating that "wow" factor that impresses clients and drives results. Short-run jobs—1,000-count certificates or 2,000-run brochures with gold—have proved popular and, during the holidays, Westamerica did its share of customized greeting cards sprinkled with gold flaking.

One particular job saw Westamerica generate a museum fundraiser that include mailers printed in red and gold, blue and gold, and green and gold. The museum received a wealth of positive feedback from the benefit attendees and is now sold on the golden tickets.

Another client, a cancer foundation fundraiser, used a black and gold diecut piece for its gala event. The multi-pronged job included a postcard mailer, table menus adorned with gold, and similarly adorned thank you cards.

"The idea is to get the imagery to pop more," notes Dunn. "The gold flake catches your eye. We did six pieces in all for the program, our 'wow factor' job. It was very successful for them and they will likely use it for their next campaign."

After testing for Kodak last September, Westamerica began showcasing its capability to clients, taking submissions and using the gold to raise the quality and eye appeal to another level. "We would get pieces in and think, 'This would look really good in gold.' So we'd send them a proof with it, and they'd love it. We probably have sold upwards of 10 jobs that way," Dunn relates.

Moving forward, Dunn feels a challenge will be getting clients to think bigger when it comes to paper size. Some customers think of digital in terms of 18˝ and 20˝ paper, but Westamerica can handle 26˝ sheets Instead of information being crammed into a four-page brochure, Dunn is counseling clients to bump it up to six pages and clear out some of the clutter, making the design easier to read while jazzing it up with dimensional or gold accents.

Value of Special Effects

Trade printer AccuLink, based in Greenville, NC, installed a Scodix 1200 on its HP Indigo 5500 digital press to enable special UV effects. The Scodix 1200 has the capacity to produce up to 99 gloss units and a polymer height of up to 70 microns for tangible dimension.

Tom O'Brien, co-owner of AccuLink, saw the Scodix in action at the 2011 Dscoop HP user group meeting and was captivated by the output. Later that year, he traveled to Israel to learn more and spent several days there, meeting with Scodix officials. When he left Israel, he had a signed order in hand.

"I could not stop thinking about what the press was capable of doing...just the added dimension it gave to printing," he says.

Currently, AccuLink is producing book covers, postcards, marketing collateral and pocket folders. One of the earliest jobs called for a tri-fold mailer; a professional football team developed a campaign aimed at renting out its premium skybox seats. The front contained a football image with dimples to create a pigskin texture and a raised grip. The mailer's response rate enabled the team to sell out its skybox seats.

Last November, AccuLink installed a glittering unit, which paved the way for holiday cards, posters, packaging applications, Braille and security applications. What's really impressed O'Brien is that the Scodix machine has been ultra-reliable, operating without a minute of downtime due to problems. Operationally, O'Brien has found the press to be extremely straightforward.

The results have exceeded O'Brien's expectations, which had been high following the Dscoop introduction. The printer has won a number of awards in Printing Industries of America affiliate chapter competitions, as well as Dscoop honors. More importantly, clients have derived higher response rates from their mailing campaigns. Book publishers are thrilled with the icing on the cake that dimension provides book jackets.

AccuLink has produced a 16-page sample book filled with Scodix-produced enhancements that literally make the images jump off the page. The tactile experience sticks with the recipients, O'Brien notes, and they're soon recalled by customers and prospects when he calls upon them.

"Right now, I've got the space all to myself. I'm not lining up against other people with Scodix machines," he says. "The real barrier for us to selling Scodix is the lack of awareness. It's one of those things that is so tactile and so visual, you can't really talk about it and gain interest without putting samples in people's hands. Once they hold it, there's this connection to the printed piece because of the added dimension." PI